The Seattle Mariners desperately need another bat. Or two, or three. As the MLB trade deadline nears, Isaac Paredes of the Tampa Bay Rays has emerged as a possible trade candidate, and Seattle is one of the teams with the prospects to land him.
The Mariners are tied with the Houston Astros atop the American League West despite having one of the worst offenses in Major League Baseball. They rank dead last in team batting average (.216), 28th in OPS (.660), and are the only team in baseball with more than 1,000 total strikeouts (1,058).
To make matters worse, Julio Rodriguez and JP Crawford went on the injured list Tuesday and the Mariners called up a quartet of prospects.
They might need more than Paredes, but the infielder is a start.
At 25 years old, Paredes is in his third full season in the majors and made his first All-Star team earlier this month. He's hitting .250 with 16 home runs and an OPS+ of 129. No player in the Mariners' everyday starting lineup has an OPS+ higher than 107 (Cal Raleigh) and Raleigh's 20 home runs make him the only Mariner with more than 12.
Mariners need to present Rays with a massive Isaac Paredes trade package
The Mariners have six prospects ranked in MLB's top 100 and any package for Paredes is going to cost at least one and more likely two of them.
Keep an eye on Tyler Locklear, the first baseman the Mariners called up on Tuesday. He's a top-100 guy and takes the place of Ty France, whom the team designated for assignment. He could be auditioning for a role on another team by next week.
In the meantime, here's a possible trade that could send Paredes from Tampa to Seattle:
Mariners receive: Isaac Paredes
Rays Receive: C Harry Ford (MLB No. 23, SEA No. 2), OF Lazaro Montes (MLB No. 51, SEA No. 4), LHP Reid VanScoter (SEA No. 28), RHP Tyler Gough (SEA No. 29)
It's a haul, but that's what it's going to take to land Paredes, who is under team control through 2028. He's played the bulk of his Major League games at third base but has experience at first and second as well. In the immediate, that means Scott Servais can play him anywhere he needs — the entire infield needs help offensively.
Some might double-take at Paredes' low average exit velocity (84.9 mph) and hard hit percentage (26.2%), but he's striking out less and hitting the ball in the air more than he has in his career previously.
For his part, Paredes is trying not to let the persistent trade rumors get to him. The Rays are 51-50, still barely within striking distance of a playoff spot.
“It’s not in my mind,” Isaac Paredes told MLB.com through his interpreter. “I don’t control it. The team will make a decision, and we’ll see what happens.”
Mariners have prospects to deal
Any Mariners trade for Paredes will probably have to include either Ford or Cole Young. In this case, Ford is a righty catcher who possesses tools you don't normally see among backstops — mainly, speed and athleticism. He also has above-average power and a plus arm, per MLB.com. At 21 years old, he already has good command of the strike zone and makes contact at a high rate. There are no guarantees, particularly at catcher, but Ford seems like a good bet to make it in the majors.
Montes is the other top-100 player in this proposed deal, and it's his power that put him there. He had an OPS of over 1.000 in the minors last year and as he moves up the system, is staying in the mid-.800s. Montes also has 14 home runs in 83 games. His downside comes on defense, where he has limited range for an outfielder and could end up as a DH by the time he cracks the majors. But that's mere speculation; he's 19 years old and playing in High-A.
VanScoter and Gough are both players operating under the radar but with some upside. Gough was once a top draft prospect before injury hurt his standing. He has rebounded strong in 2024, pitching to a 3.27 ERA in 17 starts in A-ball. VanScoter is a 25-year-old strike thrower who doesn't have great stuff but knows how to use his arsenal. The Mariners named him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season.
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